Design for Change

We need to use less gas and electricity. This is, I'm happy to say, not a controversial statement in these days of accelerating global warming, ever rising gas prices, and possibly permanently declining supplies of oil.

How will these changes in behavior come about in such an oil hungry nation such as the US? The stick of higher gas prices is certainly having an effect, with more Americans turning to mass transit and finally beginning to buy smaller cars.

But it is very nice to find the carrot of good design doing its part. We need design that makes being good to the planet, and the future generations of humans who will inhabit it, more fun. This article in the Washington Post talks about how the dashboard monitor giving constant and running updates on the actual fuel efficiency being achieved by the car, has led to many people making a game of keeping their mileage as high as possible. Friendly, I got 2 mpg more than you in April, are rivalries popping up amongst folks who were never so concerned about gas mileage before. The article goes on to talk about how other similar technology, for instance a lit globe for homes that communicates when the power grid is over stressed and therefore most expensive, or feedback devices for the amount of electricity being used in the household.

Fun, even beautiful, eco design. Good stuff.

A park grows in Brooklyn

I'll leave to another day the meaning of Memorial Day during a war that most Americans and an even greater proportion of Iraqis don't want. 

Ideas on packing a green picnic, and the value of increasing biodiverse green spaces in urban settings, too, will wait for another day.

Today is a day for enjoying my favorite green space in my city, Brooklyn.

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Barbecues smoking,

Drum circle booming,

Music from every continent drifting through the air,

Bicycles rolling,

Running shoes slapping the pavement,

Lips and teeth plucking smiles and laughter out of the air,

Water balloons arcing,

Children squealing,

Heads thrown back and hips thrust out in every kind of dance,

Brooklynites from every corner of the planet gracefully weaving between each other.

Memorial Day in Prospect Park.